More and more people fled, and at the peak, thousands of people passed through Chongyang every day, in addition to continuing to select craftsmen, Wang Kefan also selected hundreds of young people from the farmers and handed them over to Meng Bao to help defend the city.

The strange thing is that after a light rain in early spring, the flow of people fleeing suddenly stopped, from the peak of thousands of people a day, quickly dropped to dozens of people, a few people, to Zuihou, for three days without seeing a single figure. Experienced people know that this is a sign of the crossing of the army, and the people who should run have already run, and the rest can't run if they want to, so there is no one ......

On the official road from Puqi to Chongyang, a Dashun army was hurrying on the road, and there was a big "Yuan" character on the flag, and it was a middle-aged man in his thirties, with clear lines on his face and frowns.

Yuan Zongdi, a general under Li Zicheng, a general of the Dashun Dynasty, and a general of the right battalion.

The right battalion is one of the five main forces of the Dashun army, Yuan Zongdi has more than 200,000 horses at most, Liu Tichun, Liu Titong two brothers, as well as Hao Shaoqi, Wang Jincai and others are his subordinate generals, however, at this time he only has thousands of soldiers around him, and he has lost contact with the large army.

After the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the Dashun army was defeated in successive battles and suffered heavy losses, and Yuan Zongdi's right battalion was stationed in the Henan area, did not participate in the battle of Beijing, and was relatively complete. However, Wuchang Mansion was defeated, Yuan Zongdi served as a rear guard, blocking Azig's pursuers, and after repeated hard battles, it was easy to jump out of the encirclement of the Qing army, but the troops were completely dispersed, and Li Zicheng also lost contact.

The ships of Wuchang Mansion were taken away by Zuo Liangyu, and the Dashun army mobilized a group of ships from Jingzhou and other places, Wuchang lost too quickly, and these ships fell into the hands of the Qing army, after Li Zicheng left Wuchang, he had to go to Jiangxi by land, and now where he went, Yuan Zongdi did not know.

Yuan Zongdi was very worried about this, the Dashun army marched on two legs, but the Qing army could chase by boat, and if Li Zicheng did not leave the Yangtze River, he would definitely not be able to get rid of Azig's pursuers. However, leaving along the Yangtze River is equivalent to giving up convenient waterways, and it is difficult to jump out of the heavy encirclement of the Qing army, Henan, Jiangxi, Huguang and ...... In addition to the Qing army, the Ming army, no matter whether it goes south or north, it is an enemy in all directions, but it is more dangerous.

The only way to solve this dead end is to capture Jiujiang Mansion as soon as possible, collect ships locally, and go to the areas where the Ming army is weak in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. This is the plan that Li Zicheng made when he left Wuchang Mansion, and after Yuan Zongdi broke through, he immediately made a detour to Jiujiang Mansion.

He had to make a detour, the Yangtze River was full of Qing troops, Yuan Zongdi avoided them, and planned to take the Chongyang and Tongshan lines into Jiangxi.

This road was relatively safe, but along the way over the mountains and mountains, sparsely populated, Yuan Zongdi's troops easily broke through, carrying not much food, and had to be replenished before entering the Tongshan Mountains.

Helplessly, along the way, the villages passed by ten rooms and nine empty, the people fled a fine light, he had the heart to leave the road, looking for a few rich villages to collect food, but the Qing army general Bo Erhui's pursuers followed closely behind, so that he could not free his hand. Yuan Zongdi had no choice but to march straight to Chongyang, preparing to go there for a temporary rest.

Yuan Zongdi thought that the Ming army in Chongyang should have run away a long time ago, and only hoped that there were still some people in the city, and some gentry who could not leave their property and did not escape, could collect enough food, but the information brought back by the scouts was beyond his expectations.

Chongyang, there is still a Ming army stationed.

……

On the official road from Xianning to Puqi, a Qing army was hurrying to catch up with Yuan Zongdi's peasant army.

The general of the Qing army who led the troops was a Manchu man in his thirties, with a stout figure, a big head and a broad face, and a fierce aura from top to bottom, and a triangular white woven gold dragon flag behind him, indicating his special identity.

Bolhui, a general under Azig, is a second-class Lazhangjing of the White Banner, and is a member of the Baya Lazhangjing.

Zhangjing is Manchu, evolved from the word "general" in Chinese, Jiala is also Manchu, and the Later Jin implemented the Eight Banners system, three hundred people are a cow, and five cows are recorded as a Jiala. The second-class Lazhangjing is similar to the general in the Ming army, and Baya Lazhangjing is the famous commander of the white-armored soldiers (the white-armored soldiers are the Bayala soldiers, the most elite troops of the Manchu Qing Dynasty), and the triangular golden dragon flag is the unique military flag of the Bayala camp.

However, Bo Erhui only "signed" Baya Laxu Zhangjing, in other words, he was only the acting battalion officer of the white flag and white armor soldiers, which was more of an honor, and actually did not have that much military power.

From the post-Jin period to the relocation of the capital to Beijing, the political and military system of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was constantly adjusted. During the reign of Huang Taiji, the main red armor of the Eight Banners was changed to armor, and some of the elites were merged into the white armor soldiers, and at the same time, the Eight Banners White Armor soldiers were divided into eight Baya La Battalions, each of which was led by Baya Lazhang Jing, and Baya Laxu Zhangjing was directly under the orders of Huang Taiji, not subject to the jurisdiction of each Baylor, and Huang Taiji mastered all the elite soldiers of each banner through this means.

After the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, it has always retained the establishment of the Bayala battalion, and Dolgon is the owner of the Zhengbai Banner, and the Baiqi Bayala Battalion is the elite of the elite. Bol Hui can serve as the commander of this trump card force, which means that he has deep trust in Dolgon, and among the eight banners, I don't know how many generals are so jealous that their eyes are red, and they are secretly sneering and pointing fingers.

Bol Hui dismisses these rumors, he can have today's status, it is all a future that he earns with his life on the battlefield.

He is an orthodox white-armored soldier, starting from the lowest level of armor, fighting without fear of death, Tiancong became Baya Lazhuang Da (captain) for three years, beheaded Zhao Rate's deputy general, promoted to the third-class Lazhangjing, accumulated military exploits for more than ten years, and successively awarded, promoted, and served as the world-class Niu Lu Zhangjing, the director of the Criminal Department, the second-class Jiala Zhangjing, and the Baya Lazhangjing......

After rolling and fighting on the battlefield for so many years, Bol Hui has become a ruthless professional soldier, and in him, he retains more of the barbaric temperament of the post-Jin period, and does not like the various changes in the Qing Dynasty today.

For example, this Baya Lama Zhangjing, he resolutely refused to do it at the beginning, but Zuihou was personally questioned by Dolgon, so he reluctantly accepted this position.

When Bolhui was young, being able to join the Bayala Battalion and become a white-armored soldier was the highest honor for every child of the Eight Banners, but in recent years, the Bayala Battalion has continued to expand, and the number has doubled compared to the original. The population of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was limited, and the standard of conscription could only be lowered, and the quality of the new recruits of the white armor soldiers became worse and worse, and there was not much difference from the red armor in the early years.

Such white-armored soldiers are an insult to the title of Bayala soldiers, and what makes it even more difficult for Bolhui to accept is that today's white-armored soldiers have gradually become the protectors of the prince Baylor, and they are not on the battlefield when they are adults, but they are mixed with those "second-class shrimp" and "third-class shrimp". (Manchu guards, also known as "shrimp")

In Bolhui's opinion, it is enough for those princes to have guards around them, and the main force of the Bayala battalion does not always need to stay in Beijing City, and all the white-armored soldiers should be sent to the battlefield, like their ancestors, to cut off the heads of hundreds of enemies, in order to be worthy of the title of Bayala soldiers.

However, Dolgon ignored his complaints, and forced him to serve as the White Flag Pala Lamjangjing, and it was not until his father pointed out that Bolhui understood why.

This involves the contradiction between the masters, the white armor soldiers belong directly to the Shunzhi Emperor, but they are actually controlled in the hands of Dolgon, the more young and strong the Eight Banners recruited by the Bayala Battalion, the fewer elite soldiers are mastered by the princes of Baylor...... in a nutshell, in a word, today's Eight Banners are no longer the Eight Banners of the Lao Han King (Nu * Erhachi) period, the prince Baylor's military power is too great, whether it is Huang Taiji or Dolgon, who is the master is not at ease.

As for the thousands of Bayala elite soldiers who have always remained in Beijing, it is even more significant, although Beijing is already a safe rear, but Dolgon is not guarding against outsiders, but against the big Belhaug, and the auxiliary uncle Wang Zilharang......

There were too many twists and turns, which made Borhui frightened, and he packed his bags and rushed to serve in the Azig army that day. As a military general, there is no need to worry about family affairs between masters and sons, it is only right to obey orders and concentrate on fighting.

Following Azig all the way into Huguang, in the Battle of Wuchang, Bolhui and Yuan Zongdi fought a vicious battle, defeating more than 10,000 opponents with thousands of men and horses, among them, the fifty white-armored soldiers who followed him played a key role.

There were only a few hundred white-armored soldiers in the white flag, most of them stayed with Dolgon in Beijing, and Azig left another group there, and Bolhui, as Baya Lama Zhangjing, only had fifty white-armored soldiers at hand. However, these fifty white-armored soldiers formed a sharp arrow, and rushed repeatedly with hundreds of armor, destroying and crushing Yuan Zongdi's formation.

However, Yuan Zongdi was also a good general, and before the collapse of the whole army, he withdrew from the battle in time with most of the elites, and fled all the way to the southeast.

According to the news reported by the scouts, Yuan Zongdi did not stop at Puqi, but accelerated his march in the direction of Chongyang, and there were signs of crossing the Junshui River and entering Jiangxi. Bolhui immediately ordered the whole army to advance lightly towards Chongyang, and he must be intercepted before Yuan Zongdi enters the mountains.

……

On the mountain road from Qizhou to Tongshan, a Dashun army is hurrying on the road, and the word "Hao" on the banner is a tall man in his thirties, with a rough appearance and a loyal appearance, but if you look closely, you will find that his two eyes are constantly turning, and revealing a bit of cunning and shrewdness.

Hao Shaoqi, the general of the right battalion of the Dashun Army, and a subordinate of Yuan Zongdi.

As the old brother of the Shaanxi uprising, Hao Shaoqi has followed Li Zicheng for many years, but he has never been reused, others have long been named marquis and uncle, he is still a general, several levels away from Yuan Zongdi, but at this moment, his men and horses far exceed Yuan Zongdi, there are more than 20,000 people.

This matter is also a coincidence, during the Wuchang War, Hao Shaoqi was responsible for escorting grain and grass, after the Dashun army was defeated by Azig, both sides of the Yangtze River were full of defeated soldiers who ran out of grain, but Hao Shaoqi had hundreds of stones of grain in his hand, and took the opportunity to collect a large number of defeated soldiers, and the army was easily expanded to more than 20,000 people.

At this time, Hao Shaoqi should go to Jiujiang and join Li Zicheng's main force, but the Qing army has already caught up, and if he continues to go east along the Yangtze River, he will inevitably fight fiercely one after another, and even be bitten by the Qing army and unable to get out. So, he also chose to take a detour, but halfway through, Hao Shaoqi received an unexpected news, and he was shocked and had other thoughts.

Niu Jinxing, the prime minister of the Great Shun Dynasty, surrendered to the Qing army.

To Hao Shaoqi's surprise, Niu Jinxing was not an ordinary captured surrender, but broke away from the Dashun army privately, took his family and took the initiative to find the Qing army to surrender, in order to seek glory and wealth.

The tree has not fallen, and the monkey has dispersed.

Niu Jinxing, as the first civil official of the Dashun Dynasty, at least has a little vision, and he took the initiative to surrender to the Qing army at this time, indicating that King Chuang has gone. (Hao Shaoqi is an old qualification, although Li Zicheng has been called the emperor, he is still used to calling him the king)

Hao Shaoqi began to seriously consider his future. It seems that the Dashun army is not good, the king will be defeated, and now going to Jiujiang is equivalent to throwing himself into the net, so many years of life and death, he is already worthy of the king of Chuang, and there is no need to send him to death again.

He also did not want to surrender to the Manchus. The Manchu Qing Dynasty has always been the sworn enemy of the Dashun army, not only entered the customs to seize Beijing, picked the peaches of the Dashun army, but also kept killing them all, killing countless old brothers. Although Hao Shaoqi loves to play small calculations, he is also a person who misses the old and does not want to kneel to the enemy......

In Hao Shaoqi's subconscious, there is a more important reason, but he can't say it himself.

In this era, the Han people regarded the Manchus as beasts, and the Manchus regarded the Han people as pigs and dogs, Hao Shaoqi did not have the patriotic sentiments of modern consciousness, but he was full of disgust and hatred for the Tartars, just like hating rats and bugs, and never had the idea of surrendering to them until his life was endangered.

It's really not good, even if you surrender to the official army, it's much better than the Manchu Tartars, not to mention that the sky and the earth are big, as long as you have soldiers and strength in your hands, where can you go?

He looked at the map for a long time, and decided to turn to the area of Puqi and Chongyang, King Chuang went to Jiangxi, and the Qing soldiers also followed to Jiangxi, Huguang became very empty, Hao Shaoqi planned to occupy one or two county seats, rest the troops, contain the rout, and wait to see the development of the situation.

If King Chuang can survive this hurdle, it is not too late for him to defect again, with more than 20,000 people and horses as the capital, Li Zicheng will never hold him responsible, but will promote and reuse, not to be a marquis and uncle, at least to give a general Guoyi or something.

If King Chuang really collapses, it's a big deal to take refuge in He Tengjiao.

With his mind decided, he ordered the whole army to take a small road to avoid the Qing army and march to Puqi and Chongyang.